Persona Network
by EbonydragunX
Summary: An installment in the persona series which takes place several years after the events of P4. The standard unlikely hero is thrown into a new town, with new friends, and new adventures.
1. Chapter 1

The crisp night sky is broken with a single droplet of water falling over the skies. The clock dances with the numbers Eleven Fifty Nine. It's enough to make a man go insane when have to sit and watch as time goes onward and you're stuck listening to a single track of the greatest hits of Crystal Kay. Stuck on repeat because something about the voice of this female seems to make it impossible for you to think properly whenever you look into the droplets of water freefalling. The buds stuck in your ears begin to tighten as though attempting to block out everything around you.

A familiar face sits on the benches wearing a warm smile greets you with a simple chuckle as the bus finally stops. His face is warm and hardens, while his hands are stiff and wrinkled from the years upon years of hard work. Bearing thick glasses that seemed clear enough for him to simply see through all events and actions even with his bad eye sight. A thick par of khaki pants supported his frame well enough, even though his plain white buttoned down polo seemed to have gotten soaked in the amount of time he had spent outside.

"Hey there… It's been a while Yo-yo." His voice slipped a warm welcoming to an unknown figure layered in black that began to emerge from the bus. His ears sealed away the obstacles of the outside world in hopes of avoiding being exposed to random encounters such as this. "The name's Yoshuna…" The young man looked up to reveal his golden yellow hair, set in numerous strands that alternated between black and yellow. Removing the buds from his ears and looking up with his crystal blue eyes.

The image of a pair of crystal blue eyes, hit a mirrored image of a slightly dusted yellow stranded hair that was well kept in a short fashion with a set of crystal blue-green that hid them behind a thick frame of glass. It seemed as though the mirror itself reflected the cruel weapon of time and all its effects as the young man stood only to notice he fell roughly several inches short in terms of height to his reflection. With a slight extension of his hand, the young man would attempt to accept this as a form of peace. An acceptance was shown with a single hug rather than a hand shake back.

"It's good to have the Akiraka family back under one roof son…" He spoke with such kind and soft words that it was impossible for the young man to reject his kindness and he had to respond with a warm touch back. "It's nice to finally have some place to stay for a while." The young man began to hold onto his father as they walked down the long streets. With his father's arm around him all the while cracking joke upon joke lightening the mood.

"_The world is made of many things, and many things help make the world as it is today. We do not question these things nor do we go out of our way to bother them as they stand. Your world is not meant to have clear reception, nor is it meant to lack static. The network that is your life will forever broadcast your story until the ends of your days, welcome to your network." _

_**Persona Network**_

The next morning was calm and collected one, scrambled eggs, toast, and well done sausage were what was prepared for breakfast. A single Identification card for high school sat on the table that morning with the title, Akiraka Yoshuna Grade 11. The picture a very well kept picture of "Yo-Yo" from the neck up with a cheerful grin on his face, wearing his old schools uniform. His eyes slightly glazed over from the sleep he had just awoken from. "Erm… Whats this old man?" You began to glare over to his father with a hint of annoyance in his eyes as his father continued to hide behind his laptop. All the while his fingers danced around the keyboard.

"It's your ID for school…" He looked up and then began to take a quick sip of his coffee. His eyes still slightly closed as he looked over to see his child holding onto his chest as though ready to have a heart attack. "I.. I know what it is.. why.. how.. this.. picture…" He spoke as he pointed to the picture of a yellow short haired young man with a grin on his face, looking very similar to Yo-yo in his current state, except that his eyes weren't slightly glazed. Nor did his hair run to the length as it did now, not to mention that his lip wasn't wearing its signature piercing.

"Mybook…" He spoke silently to himself as he continued to type and slowly threw a hand full of keys at the young teen with a slight chuckle. "I'm going to be out late tonight writing for the department again. Yo-Yo." He continued to chuckle all the while Yoshuna began to run his palm over his own face with a slight feeling of frustration in his mind thinking maybe its best he doesn't bother to put his pictures and information on a website and then look amazed when his hacker father finds them. "I'm heading out Yoshuma.." He spoke before running his fingers through his hair and feeling a sharp pain in the back of his head from a stiffen bagel hitting him. "Its Dad to you…" His father chuckled as he continued to drag his fingers about the keyboard before him.

The walk via the directions he had been given on the back of his identification card made it possible for him to get there with no problem. There was no rain that day, only a still sitting muggy sky that made it possible for him to move about the area with stiffen lungs. Yo-yo began to make his way through the crowded buses filled with teens on their way to Umikai high school. It had gotten to the point that the waves and waves of people around him.

His eyes met with a single purple haired female who had a single strip of her hair covering one half of face. Purple shaded lipstick and a barrage of piercings on her lips, eyebrows, and her ears. Her shorten skirt worn in combination of khaki that blended in with her button shirt. Her eyes sharpening and purple and an emerald green shading outline. It was enough to drive Yoshuna to madness as he noticed an oversized music player sat in her hand with oversized headphones in her head.

Something about her seemed to drive Yoshuna closer and closer to her as the bus finally let out and they both looked up to capture one another's eyes. Her lips seemed to break apart back into a single smile as she looked into his eyes and then stood up and began to make her way out of the place. She grinned all the while as she made her way out of the area, as though struck by a random inability to come to terms with her own thoughts all the while seeing Yoshuna.

A sharpening of his eyes would reveal to him an image that was so deeply rooted into the corners of his mind that it was next to impossible for him to release himself from it. A burning voice in the back of his head made it impossible for him to properly think. In a fury of thoughts the image of a single IV machine with the constant dripping of a thick liquid through its tubes as the lines and veins of tubes began to reveal a frail arm slowly resting atop of another one. His head began to constantly pulsate numerous times as the image burned into his mind, slowly resting his head on his palms before standing and making his way into the school.

Umikai High School was in the center of Umikai City which was stamped on the river side of Japan. A rather large city that was most noted for its large and ever growing job opportunities that were brought forth with numerous businesses hoping to expand with the years. It had gotten to the point that either you were here to make an honest living, or you were here for some easy money. Regardless, Yoshuna had gotten use to this odd assortment after having only been around here for roughly four-teen hours.

Yo-Yo stood before the class as a whole fiddling with his piercings all the while the ladies in the class had their eyes glued to him, as the men seemed to have a slight chuckle at his figure as a whole. It wasn't hard to tell that the loner was now being thrown into a large scale city made him somewhat distant as the teacher began to read his name. "Akiraka Yoshuna will be joining us today. Please say something about yourself to the class." Mr. Hiroyama spoke to everyone.

Running his fingers through his golden strands of hair, Yo began to chuckle to himself before he finally spoke and removed the buds from his ears. "Sorry, I was lost in thought. Names Akiraka "Yo" Yoshuna I'm currently living here with my father. It'll be a pleasure to be in this class with you guys and such." He waved towards all of the other students of the class room with a slight chuckle once more before reinserting his headphones into his ears and making his way to his seat.

The day continued onward as normally, there was class after class, and then he reached the point in the day that he had forgotten all about. Lunch, a time in which he hadn't taken into account when preparing for the morning. Slowly running through his pockets and reaching for his ID, Yo began to notice that now there was a fifty tied around the back of it with a smile on it. Yo-Yo began slowly shaking his head as he pulled the bill off of the back of the Identification card. He then made his way out in an attempt to search for a proper place to find something to eat.

"There's a nice little pizza joint up the street, not to heavy on the sauce and a very fine arrangement of breads and cheeses if I do say so myself Yo-Boy." A red-haired young man with a pair of stylish plugs in his ears that wrapped around his ears began to speak. The young man began to look through his phone with a slight chuckle, pressing a button and sending off a flash. "Name's Watanabe Watanu born and raised here in Umikai City, It's a pleasure to meet you Yo-Boy. Just call me Wata for short, anything more and you're wasting your time. " The young man stood to his feet to reveal that he was roughly five inches taller than himself wearing a single grin on his pure pale white fleshed body.

"What makes you think I was even having a hard time finding something to eat?" Yo began to speak with a coy grin on his face, only to have his stomach cut in and give away his true intentions. Wata slowly stood to his feet before placing his arm around the neck of Yo with a slight chuckle and walking down the street as though guiding him down the walk way. "What makes you think that I'm telling you to grab a hold of your cash? I'm treating here Akiraka." He spoke as he pulled into his pocket and found a single 10000 Yen bill with a heavy smile on his face.

The two men sat in a fine Italian restaurant with their uniforms on, two fine dishes stood before them. One a lightly sauced extra cheesed pizza with the only toppings being fine Pepperoni in thick slices, with a very light sprinkling of bacon onto it. While the second dish was a half eaten Banana peppered, ham, and pepperoni altering atop a light cheesed heavy sauced pizza. A basket of fine garlic bread sat beside both, and two fine cups filled with harmless amount of wine in them stood before each of the young men as they continued to eat and speak to one another.

Wata was a simple young man, born into a family of immigrants who had came here and made a living messing around with stocks. Naturally he had been here for some time, and was basically known as the black sheep of his Yo's new homeroom of class 3-B. It seemed as though something about him was very warm and comforting, almost too much to be true, like a long lost brother. It had been almost an hour's time that they had now spent away from the school before they both noticed that they were needed back in class.

Slowly stumbling through the streets attempting to support one another, both Wata and Yo began to notice that they both might have ingested more than their share of wine. In their minds they were simply going to take it upon themselves to have a light lunch, talk about life and then simply return and go back to class. However, the truth of the matters were that they were both wasted and were now walking down the street attempting to sing the styling's of Brilliant Green.

It wasn't until they made their way into the school while screaming at the tops of their lungs. "IT'S LIKE SNOW!!!" Through the halls before falling on their asses that they noticed how badly they might have messed up. A sharp dressed man began to them as he extended his hand out with heavy sigh before the world faded to black and the two of the young men found themselves in separate beds lying down in the nurse's office.

"Well now.. . I think you could have shown our new student a better time than getting him intoxicated on his first day here." The image of a short haired female dressed in white began to echo through Yo's mind before he sat up and noticed that Wata continued to chuckle as he sat up and stretched. "Look at the bright side, no student council nerd caught us, and we're such nice guys that you won't sell us out right Nurse Mikihana?" He spoke with puppy dog eyes before noticing that a single knock on the open door exposed a tanned male standing roughly about Yo's height with an Elitist aura about him. A very sharp dressed individual with a series of chains and keys leading from his pants with a large sized pair of headphones wrapped around his head and a Zoon music player attached to his belt.

"Some of us Student Council Nerds took it upon themselves to go out of their way to help out some old friends." He leaned against the doorway chuckling to him before making his way towards the two young men who proceeded to stand to their feet. Slowly extending his hand out in an attempt to make a hand shake, the young man began to nod as though telling Yo it was ok for him to accept the handshake. "Tatuyami Ryunosuke, Vice-President of the Student Council here. You're Yoshuma's son right? He's a great asset to the police force as a whole with his computing skills. It's a shame we had to meet on such.. Out of the way circumstances."

Wata stood up and began to chuckle as he noticed that Ryunosuke was now in lighter mood. "So… what's the excuse you gave them for us this time Ryu?" He began to speak as he began to stretch his muscles out and slowly made his way to exit of the room. His feet slowly carrying himself before feeling Ryunosuke's hand grab a hold of his shoulder with a heavy sigh. "I didn't tell them anything, I now have to escort both you and Mr. Yoshuna back to your class, your last class of the day mind you."

Turning slightly to see the glare of lose in Yo's eyes, both Wata and Yo knew that it meant one thing. They had both managed to fail majorly at Yo's first day at school a fact that was only made more obvious when the last bell of the day rang and the three young men were all in the nurses office still with Nurse Mikihana still chuckling to herself. "Damnit, I missed my last class of the day messing around with you two clowns." Ryunosuke began to take his palms and place them on the center of his forehead attempting to massage it so that he could carefully come to terms with his current situation.

Rather than walk home or take the bus, Yo was offered a ride home with Ryunosuke and Wata. Ryunosuke was apparently sporting a brand new corvette, a nice blue and black shade, which was far too much money wise even for Yo's family. It was revealed by Wata that Ryunosuke's father was the head of a major Interpol branch and that his mother's life insurance as a Battalion Commander in the Military had them set for life. However, the subject of Ryunosuke's life was very short lived as the figure of the short dressed female with the single strand of hair falling over her pale skinned face.

"Awwww, looks like Yo-Boy has a chubby for Miss Kinosui." Wata began to tease as he leaned his head out of the window looking at the female as the car began to slow in its pace. Yo quickly blushed as he began to fidget in the back seat of the car speaking in bumbling lines. "What? No, it's not like that at all… it's just that, you know it's just that one thing." His words couldn't catch up with his hearts speed as the car had almost reached a complete stop when Ryunosuke began to speak. "Ahhh, Miss Nitsumo Kinosui, she's somewhat distant from the rest of the class as a whole and it's rare for anyone to actually fall for her let alone think she's fallen for…" His sentence was cut short as she looked over to the car and met eyes with Yoshuna once again.

Her eyes obviously happy to see him and she too began to share in his crimson colored face upon noticing that he was blushing. It was something out of a children's book almost, two young teens meeting with one another's stare and blushing, both unable to convey their feelings. "Well, well, well. Looks like someone can make her blush like that? Maybe our friends a bit more lucky with the ladies then we thought Wata." Ryunosuke began to continue his original thought with a heavy chuckle before being cut off by Wata. "I vote we celebrate by hitting the clubs tonight!" Wata began to howl at the tops of his lungs outside of the window as Ryunosuke finally began to take off. "I hope you don't intend on drinking again, didn't you two learn your lesson?" Ryunosuke began to take a motherly tone as though attempting to set the two straight. "Wait, What? How can I go out partying, I don't have clothes, I don't have extra money, I need to get home and contact my dad for all those things, and he works all through the night." Yo's thoughts began to race through his head as he felt a sharp pain in the center of his forehead.

In all his worries he didn't notice that Ryunosuke had through back his cell phone hitting him square in the forehead midsentence. "It's Under Yo-Tsunami. Your old man's a great help to my dad, he should still be at the station doing some random work. Ask him from here, we can worry about clothes and crap at my house." Ryunosuke began to speak as Yo began to search out the title that he was asked to do and await for his father to answer.

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Outside of club Vertigo, sat a single figure of a blonde haired young man with perfect skin. He sat to the ground in the dark night's sky looking up with a single baseball cap covering his perfect brown eyes. Slowly running his back against the cold hard cement wall he stood to his feet with a heavy sigh before drawing for his wallet and fingering the numerous cards from within. Lost in thought unable to fully understand why he was forced to wait outside, a large shadow began to appear over him.

The figure that appeared before him was a man, roughly the same characteristics in terms of age like himself. The figure however, carried a swagger that was reserved for a man of business in his late thirties. Wearing a doubled breasted trench coat layered in black, donning white pin stripes down it. With a fine black vest complete with a red tie running down its center beneath. The giant of a man standing roughly seven feet in height began to chuckle as he placed his fist into the chest of the blonde haired boy with a joking mannerism behind it. "So, do you know where he is?" The tall figure began to chuckle to himself as he pulled for a cigar out of one of his pockets and proceeded to light it before placing his black hat back onto his head.

"No, not really, but in all honesty he doesn't have the greatest level of directional skills out of everyone we're ever going to meet anyways. So let's just head in anyways." The blonde haired young man stood to his feet and began to enter the doors of Club Vertigo with his overshadowing friend standing beside him, and behind them roughly a dozen men dressed in his same fashion of old style gangster clothing. "Also can you tell the goons they aren't needed tonight? Last thing I need is for the ladies to think I'm playing for the wrong team." The Blonde haired young man began to chuckle to himself as he pushed open the doors to the club only to see a very saddening sight.

Their other friend had taken it onto himself to single handedly punch out roughly five men on the dance floor. It was the image of his rough black hair dancing over the dance floor in wave after wave of motion. As he proceeded to grab a hold of another young man and hold him by the collar of his shirt and draw for a small dagger aiming it at his throat. "What do you mean that's the south exit I came from?"His voice so calm and collected that it was almost impossible to guess that he was upset, he carried a warrior like prowess about him all the while he held onto a killer's intent. "Would you not say that, that was indeed the North Entrance I entered from?" He spoke into the face of the fearful young man before him, his dark shaded eyes and his well built physique made it impossible for men to not fear him, and for women to not want him.

The young man trapped in his death filled gaze slowly began to feel his mind burn at the thought of death before he finally spoke. "Y-yeah. That's most definitely t-t-t-he north entrance. N-n-no doubt a-a-about it." He finally began to feel his mind black out before the young man proceeded to send him flying across the dance floor with a single head-butt. "Well, damn. At this rate you're going to kill my fun time already showing up so late." The blonde haired figure laughed to himself as the other man began to place his knife back into his back pocket area with a heavy grin. "Well if you guys would have just came and picked me up this could have all been avoided. The bright side is no one is dead right, Warui?" He spoke as he began to walk off towards the back area of the club. The blonde haired young man was still chuckling to himself as he followed the footsteps of his friend. As the large shadowing figure began speaking loud enough for both of them to hear his words, "You know I love messing around with a few idiots left and right too. We don't have to be work, work, and work all the damn time." His voice slowly dying off as the three went into the back room and on the table sat a single silver suitcase that was slowly opened with a loud click.

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As odd as it sounded, Yo's father was very happy and supportive of him going out on his first night in the new town. He even gave his full support of his new friends, saying that its better for him to have too many friends then none at all. A rather simple logic, for a rather complex situation as a whole but what did Yo really expect from his dad? It was honestly a good time getting ready to head out for the night, until it began to rain.

The same rain that carried the area on the day of his arrival continued to dance on the windows of Ryunosuke's house. His younger maids of his rather large household began to wander about confused, "We heard no such thing of rain for tonight." They all continued to go about the room as though unable to fully understand the words of the younger men. All the while Ryunosuke began to chuckle as his gaze began to shit to Wata who all the while carried a similar grin. Yo's eyes continued to run about in a river of lost glances alongside of the maids.

The final attire that the group agreed on was for a nice combination style of clothing for Yo. He wore a lightly tanned ball cap that matched his overall appearance to boot. While Wata still managed to pull off the rugged appearance of his school uniform with no problem. The same applied for Ryunosuke, completely avoiding changing into his arsenal of clothing from his own closet and stuck to his own school uniform.

Something about the setting seemed to make it impossible for him to relax as he normally would when going out. Even though he would was lax and loose from all the 'adventures' of the day, but something about the night refused to let him relax. Everyone in the room felt something flowing through them, it reached through each one of them in its own style and brand. Yet, they could all tell that something was wrong.

Five minutes outside and it began to rain. It didn't take long for the shining lights of the car's radio to begin shining 11:01 PM. It took a few moments in the rain before Yo began to notice that something was wrong with the radio within the area. Wata and Ryunosuke could only chuckle to them as Yo continued to move about in the backseat of the car. He would close his eyes for a moment as he heard his own cell phone ringing.

Hearing the words of Wata as he spoke to Ryunosuke before he finally gave way and he closed his eyes after such a long day. "11:59, Club Vertigo, N.K." The final words he heard before drifting off into a dream world were the ones released from Ryunosuke's lips. "Because, I want someone to hold me… Does that sound about right?" Ryunosuke's voice carried through his head before his mind carried him off to a world where nothing could reach him short of a false feeling of nirvana.

A cryptic tone continues to run throughout the background of the room. A single dripping of an IV machine continues to fall in the soft floored velvet colored room, a single pale blonde haired female sat by the side of an elderly man whom had his face attached to a mask gasping for air. Unable to open his eyes completely and look over to the young man whom had just walked into his room, the big nosed elderly man turned attempting to look to Yoshuna as the door behind him faded away.

The young lady wore a long town dress that was the same shading of Velvet as the room itself, her hair as snow white as her flesh, and her eyes appearing to be lost in the distance of nothingness. Her short height made it next to impossible for her to be noticed over the image of the half dead long nosed man laying in the bed beside her that Yoshuna began to move closer and closer towards. Yoshuna's head began to beat down a barrage of sweat falling over his eyes, looking over to the female once more as she began to grin slightly and speak in a very thick and high pitched tone.

"My name is Rosemary; I am the acting assistant of the Velvet Room." She spoke as she bowed towards you only to have a raspy voice in the background cut her off. The mask that once gave a half dead man life was now removed and his body was attempting to sit up enough and speak to the people of the room. "Do not worry…" The voice drifted in from the distance. "You are currently fast asleep in reality. I am Igor…" He spoke before coughing loudly and attempting to place the mask back onto his face with his own strength.

The young woman's hand began to run over the mask before she placed it back onto the face of the elderly man known simply as Igor. "Please, I am sorry for his current condition. I am to blame for lacking in such experience as my sisters did before me. This is the world where those who are selected by fate come forth awaken to their own devices and power." The young lady spoke before a ringing of a phone went off in the area. Yoshuna began to look about the room before he noticed that it was coming from himself, a small blue cellular phone was going off and ringing and the call was titled as coming from a "Personia"

"That would be us.." The young lady spoke as velvet colored cell phone appeared in her right hand and she waved it about. A message danced on the screen of Yoshuna's asking for him to input his username. "That is a contract…" The raspy voice spoke once again as Igor attempted to speak to him once more. "It simply states that from this point forward, you are going to take responsibility for all your own actions. Nothing more… and nothing less." His voice finally gave way as he closed his eyes slightly and began to rest.

Yoshuna began to text his own name back into the message as a reply, the ring tone began to go off and alert Rosemary that Yoshuna had safely gotten the message and replied to her. Yet something still continued to run throughout his head as Yoshuna held onto the blue shaded phone within his right hand. "Our job will be revealed to you in due time, so please don't worry about it too much Mr. Akiraka." She spoke to him with a slight lost look in her eyes before she waved him off.

A bright flash of velvet light began to fill Yoshuna's eyes and the image of the pure velvet room began to escape his thoughts. Simply the windowless velvet room with nothing to support it aside from the constant dripping of the IV that ran into the veins of Igor. He simply heard the voice of the elderly man speaking to him, directly into his mind, "In due time all will be revealed to you." The last words the escaped his mind before Yoshuna's eyes closed once again attempting to avoid the Velvet light.

"So.. I take it either A, he fell asleep and is now trying to laugh at us for taking him out on a school night after you went out of your way to get him drunk on his first day of school. Or.. B he's not sleep and he's trying to fuck with us because we kinda left him out on the details of tonight's little joy ride." The voice of Ryunosuke continued to run through Yoshuna's head as he finally opened his eyes and began to look about the area.

"Damn… Looks like I owe you five bucks then huh Ryu?" Wata continued to chuckle to himself as they sat looking outward at the entrance to Club Vertigo. The time on the car began to read a constant 11:56. The image of one Miss Nitsumo Kinosui stood on the outside of the club running her fingers through her lips end attempting to look about the area as though slightly confused as to what she was really doing there.

"Nitsumo Kinosui, club vertigo, and I think we still have a few moments before it turns 11:59. I'm guessing that means we still have some time left." Ryunosuke's voice continued to run throughout the area as Wata began to pick his nails with a sharpened Switchblade. "I'm guessing its time that we explain a few things…" Wata began to speak as he looked into the window to see Yo's body slowly rising up holding onto a single blue shaded cell phone. "Oh Mr. I ain't got no cell phone in here is trying to sleep while we do his girl a favor."

"What the hell do you mean my girl? I mean I just got here.. to this school I mean. And what favor are you talking about?!" Yo's voice slowly began to die off as Ryunosuke placed a finger to it as though asking him to remain silent for a moment. The darkness that covered the area slowly began to deepen as static began to broadcast itself over Yo's headphones. Yo began to slowly remove them from his head and look into to see if something was wrong only to see that both Wata and Ryunosuke seemed confused as well.

"Question Ryu. I'm pretty sure that the static is normal for this type of ordeal, but what about the two emo figures in the back ground? They normal or what?" Wata spoke with a slick tongue that carried itself to the point that Miss Kinosui heard his voice and turned to notice that three of her schoolmates were across the street from her. In a panic she began to hold onto her head and whisper to herself as though attempting to escape the world around her. "Ok, now I'm shocked and surprised. I mean I knew the kid was the trigger, but who would have guessed that there were others besides us interested in the midnight station…"

Nitsumo Kinosui continued to speak to herself over and over as though chanting something. Two figures in long black robes appeared by her side, each wearing a mask to hide their true face. "Hmmm, shame. I assumed that if we allowed her to sit here on her own then there was a chance that she'd join us of her own accord. However, we have three problems standing before us at the moment." Spoke the smaller of the two figures who appeared as though he had hidden his face with an old style Tengu mask. He had only made it roughly half way through his entire speak before Ryunosuke turned to Yo as though ignoring the men as a whole.

"The reason we brought you out tonight wasn't so that we could sit and party with you Yo. As sad as it is, we had a much darker reason for dragging you out here." Ryunosuke's eyes began to turn to Yo as though he was attempting to pierce through his very soul with his words. Placing his fingers against his own head phones Ryunosuke began to hear a voice speak to him through them, mimicking his movements Yo began to notice it to. It was the voice of Nitsumo Kinosui speaking to them through their headsets as she cried right before them.

"Why is there no one here to help me… Why do they all look at me like I'm some freak?" She began to repeat as the volume of the headphones each of them wore began to blare throughout the area. Wata slowly began to hold onto his as he turned to Ryunosuke with a slight half hearted chuckle. "So… what do we do about Iar and Inignock over there? I mean I don't even think Yo-boy knows what's going on, let alone him being able to help us at the moment." Before Ryunosuke could even answer the taller of the two figures lifted his hand above his head and mouthed to himself as though attempting to summon forth something.

"Damn, this is pretty bad." Ryunosuke spoke as he kicked off his feet and made his way towards the taller cloaked figure. Releasing a single scream from the depths of his lungs as the larger man finally spoke out loud. Their words rivaled one another's as Ryunosuke placed one of his fist into a blacken glove while the larger man revealed a pair of brass knuckles from beneath his robe. They both took aim at one another as they threw their fist at the other all the while screaming. "PERSONA!"

The darkness was cut through by the image of two beings bathed in light taking form around both Ryunosuke and his attacker. For one, there stood a giant of a being coated in electricity; he wore a crown that was as thick as a forest itself, as a halo of electricity danced across his back. In each hand he held onto bolts of lightning that took aim at the body of Ryunosuke only to fall short as each of his wrist were pinned down by to mechanical hands.

Standing beside Ryunosuke was a mechanical being whose body was better suited for the mobile suit manga that Yo used to read back in middle school rather than the battle at hand. Its body was a full on royal blue shade as its image towered over the other demon like being who stood before him. As the two figures attempted to grab at one another's throats, the beings who fought in their shadows began to trade blows of their own. Ryunosuke planted a single shot into the jaw of the masked figure as his ally looked on.

"So… Yo, wanna do us a favor? It seems like our friends here have the same gift that we have. So I'm going to have to ask you to deal with Miss Kinosui on your own. Is that a problem?" Wata spoke as he placed his hands over his ears attempting to concentrate it seemed.

"What the hell are you talking about powers 'we' have!? Dude I have no idea what the hell is going on here and what the hell is that thing with Ryunosuke?! And what do you mean deal with Kinosui-san. I don't even know who the hell she is!? And I don't know who you people are for that matter either! Hey! Take your ears off your headphones for two seconds so you can listen to me Damnit!" Yo's pleads fell on deaf ears as Wata began to take charge at the smaller of the two figures. The smaller figure knew what to expect so he took off running in the direction opposite of Wata's, starting a chase between the two.

In a confused state stood Akiraka Yoshuna, age seventeen. Upon his first day of school he made friends with one Watanabe Watanu and Ryunosuke Tatuyami. Now, he stands watching as one friend chases off what he can only assume to be a demon, and the other fights with a god to his back protecting him. Given the task of protecting a young lady who is crying her heart out, which for some reason is broadcasting itself over the radio station. And he is, in ever since of the word, lost.

Yo slowly began to make his way over to Kinosui attempting to avoid being trampled by the figures that he could only assume were some form of demon-gods. He attempted to grab ahold of her hand and pull her in the direction of Ryunosuke's car. "Look Miss Kinosui, I have no idea what the hell is going on here but if you don't want to be killed or offered to some demon god whatever, I advise you get in the car." He attempted to speak to her only to hear her voice still speaking in his headphones. "Please, why won't anyone hold me?" She continued to repeat as Yoshuna slowly began to notice what her problem was.

"Well, I don't think I can help you when it comes to fighting against demon-god thingies. But…" He slowly began to sit beside her and hold her hand. Placing his head against hers as he attempted to stop himself from trembling as the ongoing fight between Ryunosuke and his foe kept raging on. "But, I have to admit, if there was ever a time in my life I'd want someone to hold me. Now would be in the top ten." Yo began to chuckle as he watched Kinosui's eyes lift up and look to him with a heart filled glare in them. Yet what he heard was not a soft and reassuring reply from her normally quiet voice. Instead he heard a deepening and dark whine come from her lungs.

"And what exactly can you do coward?" Her voice spoke out in a high pitched tone of annoyance. "I mean sure I might want someone to hold me, but what's a coward like you going to do for me short of pissing his pants whenever things go wrong?" She slowly stood up and began to dance about the area with a wide, unusual, grin on her face as though attempting to lighten her own mood.

"Get away from her Yoshuna! That's not the normal Kinosui-chan!" Ryunosuke's voice echoed throughout the area as he was once again pushed about by the larger figure that appeared to be one of the two men. "Why would it matter if I was normal or not little boy? I mean all men do is run away whenever things get to hard and then when they can't handle things they take the easy way out!"

Her eyes began to glow a deep dark red shade as the aura about her grew darker and thicker. "That's what daddy did to mommy when mommy didn't want to sit at home all day and cook his meals twenty four seven. He ran off to his new family with a better mommy and more perfect children!" Her aura began to deepen in as the darkness around her began to take form. Behind her now stood a female figure with her eyes covered by a single blindfold. In one hand she held onto a sphere, while in the other she wielded a snake. Her aura dark and dank, while her hair transformed into a variant of several snakes tied together. "And you think your different from other men, why?! Because you held onto me out of fear?! No one else would ever hold me unless they were afraid of something so much they thought I could act as their shield!"

She screamed as the being beside her took a single stab at Yo with her spear in hand. If not for Ryunosuke screaming to him to look out, there's a chance that the spear might have cut Yo in half at that very moment. Barely evading the spear, Yo continued to look onward to Kinosui, who despite the vengeance in her voice, her body still seemed cold and lonely.

"I am thou…" A voice began to speak to Yoshuna as Kinosui went back around for her second attack, this time screaming something incoherent as she made her way closer to Yoshuna. "I am thou, and thou art I…" The voice spoke again as Kinosui began to yell once again. The headphones once again picking up slight static as the whimpering of a young lady could be heard through them. "Speak my name and I will…" The voice in the back of Yoshuna's mind began to fade away as the voice of Kinosui's inner self began to speak through the head phones in tears. "I want someone to hold me!"

A slight glimmer appeared before Yo as he felt his lips moving on their own. Before he could even think he had already spoken the words that his mind ordered him to mouth. And in a brief second, the image of Kinosui's 'demon figure' was stopped in its tracks. "Save Her…" Yo's voice carried off as he felt his face run red with tears before an image appeared beside him. "Oinari!"

The figure of man wearing a long sleeved Kimono appeared to Yoshuna's side. A ribbon that had nine loose clothes to its back bound Kinosui and her image in their tracks making it impossible for her to move. Her eyes and her aura began to die out as her energy was slowly drained for her body. The ribbons so warm and enlightening as they tied around her body, it was impossible for the dark aura to stand as the ribbon of the figure illuminated the area as a whole.

"Damn Straight!" Wata's voice was heard across the area as he made a quick run back just in time to see that everything was under control. Ryunosuke's foe had also taken it upon himself to leave during the confusion. Each of the two men looked over to see that there now stood a holy figure beside Yo, and that Kinosui had now fallen asleep due to the fatigue of the attack that was just unleashed upon her.

Yoshuna could only feel his head hitting the hard ground beneath him as he fainted due to a combination of stress and what he can only assume was demon magic. As his eyes slowly closed he could hear Ryunosuke and Wata speaking to each other. "Do you think we should have filled in on exactly what the hell we brought him here for, prior to the outcome?" Ryunosuke's voice carried throughout the area as Yo felt his body being lifted by the young man. "Well, where would all the fun be in that?" Wata's voice carried throughout the area.

Six hooded figures stood looking over a single camp fire, two of which still wore masks hiding their face, while the others began to sigh heavily upon coming to the realization of what had just taken place. The other four figures each began slowly shaking their head in disapproval. While one of them began to move about the area and take a different seat to better see the two whom had just returned. "Ok, so we have a problem. Apparently there are other persona users aside from ourselves out there… which… is bad." The larger of the two spoke as he fell to a single knee as though attempting to get some level of understanding from his fellow men in cloaks.

"And oddly enough they ain't no rookies either." The smaller of the two spoke before he felt a cold wind brush across his face, a sign that their leader had turned his back on them for a brief moment. His robe was spun at such a high rate that he didn't even bother to waste his time avoiding them, it was as though they didn't even exist to him at the moment. With a quick turn of his direction he began to sigh heavily as he looked onward to his fellow man.

"Well then, I suppose we can't send you two to mess it up again now can we?" He began to laugh as the two masked men began to shake slightly, knowing that they had fallen out of their leaders favor now. However, all the six men knew that if there was someone else capable of using the powers of persona, then it was a good chance that any plans they had would have been met with an undesirable force.

All six of the men stood with mask covering their faces as they turned away from the flames of the night. Each of them with their own design atop their mask, and each with a slight alteration to their physical build from the next. Each with the same tone of voice upon exiting the area where the flames still danced red hot, "Long Live, the Deep Six…" Each spoke with their own sense of pride behind their words.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Persona Network: "Tune In, Watch Out, and Shut Up." **_

The bright sun began to beat against Yoshuna's head like a drum being beaten. The face of his father was the first thing he saw in the morning, and nothing about it seemed too happy or inviting. "So.. I can understand I said go out, make friends, and have fun. But I don't think that included going out, getting drunk your first night here, and sleeping for a whole school week!"Yoshuma stood before his son with a look of worrying and annoyance combined into a single front. It was as though during this week's time he stood over his young son the entire time.

Slowly lifting himself up from the confines of his bed Yoshuna noticed that he was still in the clothes borrowed from Ryunosuke, however he also noticed that the laptop that his dad used for work was nowhere to be found. To Yo's surprise he couldn't hold himself back from speaking. "So.. this is odd. I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without your laptop in such a long time." Yo began to chuckle to himself as his dad slowly took a seat beside the bed and then returned his glasses back to his eyes.

"Anyways, you're lucky you were only out with Tatuyami's kid otherwise you might have been in some serious trouble when it came to your drinking. Thank god him and the Watanabe's kid got along so well with you, otherwise I thought you might have fallen in with the wrong crowd. This place may not seem like much but there are numerous rumors of bad seeds going about even amongst the department." Yoshuma spoke as he slowly began to take to his feet and exit the room.

To his own surprise it seemed as though Yo's father was more worried about him then upset at the current situation as a whole, which to him was completely out of character for the aging man. However, compared to the dreams he had been having recently it seemed somewhat confusing that this throw him for a loop. First the dream of the old dying man, and then the dream of what had happened to him outside of Club Vertigo. This was on the standards of normal compared to what it was that he had been experiencing as of late.

Slowly standing to his feet and checking his calendar, Yo began to notice that he had in fact, slept through an entire school's week. It was now Saturday and the season's change was obvious as the white hot sun continued to beat down on Yo's room as a whole. He felt somewhat upset that his father could bother to take care of him while he was knocked out from his drinking, but he didn't bother to give him some AC to chill out with.

Yoshuna made his way down the stairs from his room only to notice that there appeared to be two additional people to his current household. In one chair sat his father chuckling slightly as he continued to drink his coffee with one hand and type on his laptop with the other. In another chair sat an esteem figure with the suit and a brilliant badge glimmering in the bright sun that snuck in through the window. His face and figure resembling that of Ryunosuke, with a few exceptions. Ranging from facial hair, a few rougher appearances, and a few scars covering the face, to a deeper tan. The final figure sat on the coach in the front room, it was Ryunosuke himself with a pair of oversized headphones covering his ears as he began to play around with his cell phone.

It didn't take long before Yoshuna drew all attention to himself, both his father and the other man within the room both turned to him with slight grins on their face. "Well this would be my son right now Detective Tatuyami." Yoshuma spoke with a proud smile. "We've been friends for far too long Akiraka-Dono. Simply call me Tetsuya." He spoke as he nodded to Yoshuna with a grin. "He's a fine young lad, unlike my own boy Ryu over there." He chuckled as though kidding before turning and speaking to Yoshuna once again about some form of work or code cracking.

Ryunosuke was already standing to his feet in the front room and signaling to go forth through the front door and sit outside for a moment. Nodding to him and waving off to both his father and Ryunosuke's dad Yoshuna began to make his way through the front door to accompany Ryunosuke. The two of them stood on the front porch in silence for a moment before Ryunosuke broke his harden normal tone with a sigh of relief, "I was worried you might have overdone it back there." He spoke as though he was slightly surprised at the turn of events from the night several days prior.

"First…" He spoke to before Yoshuna could even finish a single thought or think of his own question. "I'm sorry for what myself and Wata put you through. Honestly I don't recall ever informing you about the situation as a whole or exactly what was going on. So I can see how that was rather rude of me as a whole." Ryunosuke spoke quickly as though attempting to pin down his own thoughts and speak them out loud.

Yoshuna's mind could barely keep up with the replies that Ryunosuke began to give him as he asked his questions. "So exactly what happened back there?" "Took you to see if you had what it took, good for both of us you did.." Ryunosuke spoke quickly. "And exactly what drove you to take a total stranger and then expose them to demon-god thingies?" Yoshuna spoke before he was cut off by Ryunosuke. "Persona… they're called Persona not demon-god thingies" Yoshuna continued on from Ryunosuke's original point. "Wait.. so exactly who the hell thought I had what it took to summon the "Persona" thingy in the first place?" Ryunosuke chuckled to himself before he spoke. "Easy enough, that was Wata. It's one of his skills. He can sense the spirit of those capable of using Persona."

"So… let me get this straight, you guys run around with these things and summon them fighting people for no reason?" He began to chuckle as he attempted to answer the questions. "Well, as you noticed, it's possible to get like 'forewarning' things on the radio, they broadcast roughly at about 11:59 each night. Only way for someone to even catch the broadcast is to have the power of Persona with them in the first place. The good thing about you is that your father is close to mine so I could see if you had the power easier. Only took a day." Ryunosuke's words seemed to confuse and make Yoshuna upset all in a single moment. First it seemed as though he was trying to help people with some holy cause.

"And who the hell ever said I wanted to join you guys in playing heroes? I mean just because you and Wata think its cool to run around forcing people to join your stupid holy crusade against demon-gods doesn't mean everyone wants to join you! Go and play hero with someone else's life if you want to become a hero so bad!" His words never even managed to reach his own mind before Yoshuna felt the harden backside of Ryunosuke's fist in his stomach area eating away at what felt like his insides. Looking up to see the reddening eyes of Ryunosuke's, almost in tears from the words of Yoshuna.

"I didn't expect you to be a coward, and don't you dare say we're playing hero for some holy crusade. Do you have any idea what would have happened to that young lady if we didn't help her!" He spoke with such violence in his eyes as though he was going to kill Yoshuna. However, even with such a deepening rage glaring at him, Yo could only give him a single reply. "Why… do.. I care?" he spoke lastly before he felt another sting to the side of his head. Ryunosuke's fist caught him square over the side of his face and before he even had a chance to speak again he was down on his back looking up, the last image he saw was Ryunosuke's back turning away from him and heading back in doors.

The velvet carpet fell between the toes of Yoshuna's bare feet as he began to take notice to the world around him and noticed that he was now sitting back in front of the Young lady and the Elder man by the names of Igor and Rosemary. "I see that you have awoken to the power of Persona? That is good news… the power of your Persona is a reflection on your inner self. The fact that you can use it so soon surprises me actually." Rosemary spoke as she adjusted Igor's pillow slightly, all the while Igor removed his mask attempting to speak to Yoshuna who could barely keep up with what was going on.

"From this point on…" He wheezed out of his lungs before he fell back down onto his pillow with yet another breathe. "You must take responsibility for all your actions… As written out by your very own contract…" He spoke as he fell to his pillow closing his eyes and slowly turning his eyes over to his Velvet shaded IV machine. Rosemary began to bear a look of concern on her face as she looked over to Yoshuna who now felt a cold chilling bite crawling up his spine.

Rosemary turned to Yoshuna with a heavy look in her eyes. "I know what you're thinking, and it's not our problem. It seems as though it's your contract and your issue. " She spoke as though she was cold and heartless towards Yoshuna. It seemed as though she understood Yoshuna's idea and plans when it came to the situation as a whole and now he had gotten to the point that he might have gotten himself in more trouble than before. The two of them attempted to stare bullets into one another before Yoshuna realized that there was something cold and dark about her glare as a whole.

"Also one more thing before you go back to where you came from. I'd advise you avoid pissing off every person you make, your power is directly connected to those around you and how you make contact with them. As someone as random as yourself it's rare that this power ever show up. Let alone someone like you…" She spoke as Yoshuna's cellular phone began to ring and on it glowed the image of young man holding onto a horn. At its bottom it read "Fool, O" in an old graphic that made it somewhat hard for him to fully understand exactly what it was that he was looking at.

"You are the Fool, you are nothing. You have no limitations, and you are without equal, you are only as powerful as the binds you build up using your own power with those around you. Well, in your case I guess that means you're no better off than the last one.." She spoke before she drifted off back to Igor's side. And with a single burst of energy Yoshuna sat up finally ready to give the young lady a piece of his mind. Before he noticed that he was now back in his room laying down with his father sitting beside him once again.

"Don't go out so soon if you're not prepared to walk about on your own. If you'd collapsed where Ryunosuke wasn't there to assist you then what would have happened?" Yoshuma spoke as though terrified for his son's well being, all the while Yoshuna felt as though his body was being shattered by the constant pressure of Ryunosuke's fist.

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The next morning Yoshuna awoke to notice that his father had already stepped out for the day, gone into work after being roughly a week behind in work. Yo began to notice that between the words that were spoken to him from the older man by the name of Igor, Rosemary, and Ryunosuke he didn't seem to get the full picture of what was going on. True, he had signed a contract so he had to do all the work and take responsibility for his actions, but why did Ryunosuke feel as though he had some sign of work to do here as well?

He could still feel his head slightly throbbing as his house's phone began to ring and he made his way over to go and answer it. "Yo-boy, what is up!" Wata's voice began to beat against the inner parts of Yoshuna's head as he attempted to cover it up to avoid having any real hearing lose. "Can you keep it down? My head feels like it was hit by a semi truck." Wata began to chuckle louder and louder into the phone as he began to speak once again. "You think that's bad? Then you should honestly wait until you gotta go and take a dump, your stomach is going to implode on itself… trust me. He hits about three times harder then you think." Wata began to speak in a lower voice to the point that even Yoshuna was surprised.

"So… he told you he hit me huh?" Yo began to chuckle as he took a seat at the nearby chair of the living room. Only to hear another laugh escape from the other side of the phone, "No, but I can say you're not the first person to laugh at the guys way of doing things. Mind if I come over so we can talk about it?" Yoshuna agreed to having Wata over only to hear a knock at his door three seconds later.

Upon opening the door Yoshuna wasn't too surprised to see the figure of Wata wearing a single leather vest with a silly grin on his face. Slowly making his way into the house Wata began to kick off his shoes and take a seat on the Akiraka's residential coach. "You know there's a nice little place around the corner where you can find the sweetest girls in town at?" Wata spoke only to have Yoshuna turn his back to him in an attempt to lose himself in his own refrigerator.

"Look, he simply told me what you said Yo-boy. I kinda assumed everything from that point on, seeing as how I've seen it happen first hand before." Wata sat up and began to change his tone to a much more serious one as he noticed Yoshuna was attempting to ignore most of his jokes aimed at himself. "Ryunosuke had a friend who he failed to save…" Yoshuna's ears began to grab a hold of Wata's words. "Yeah, apparently what happened to Miss Kinosui happened to his friend. I think her name was.. Oh yeah that's what it was. Midori Amatsu, she was apparently one of his closes friends. When he failed to save her when her 'message' was given the 'shadow' that you saw attempt to drive Kinosui-san mad apparently got a hold of Midori. And because Ryunosuke was powerless, she died attempting to take his life. So forth and so on…"

Yoshuna now sat down at the kitchen table attempting to process all of it in his mind. "So.. exactly why do you go with him to do this? I mean it's his problem not yours…" Yoshuna began to speak as he began to set forth a plate of day old pizza for himself set with several slices.

Wata stood to his feet and began to snatch up several slices from Yoshuna's plate with a grin before replying. "Well actually, we were friends before. And it just so happened that my time was up and I got a message for my death. Ryunosuke saved me and every since I was being dragged around with him helping out people left and right."

Yo's eyes began to widen upon noticing that two of the four slices that Wata had taken from him appeared to be already gone from Wata's possession and now he was working on third one. "So what about all the other people with "Persona" you guys save why don't they help?" Yo's sharp words began to carry from his throat faster then he himself could think.

"What other people? Everyone who gets saved doesn't have the power of persona. Anyone can be a victim and only a few of us can be heroes. Which is why I think your words hurt him as much as they did. He seemed so happy upon knowing that someone was going to come and help us in our crusade against the darkness." Wata began to chuckle to himself upon noticing that Yoshuna now was slightly feeling himself drawn deeper and deeper into a pit of despair.

"Don't worry about it, you're still new here. And I don't think anyone expected you to become an automatic pro at this thing right off rip. Least you can do is relax and have some fun with it, right?" Wata began to chuckle to himself before he turned back towards the living room of Yoshuna and began flipping through the channels. "Now, what else is there to do while attempting to burn a day?" Wata spoke with a chuckle upon noticing that Yoshuna's plate was now empty of food.

----------------------------------------------------

It was now a little over 20:00 hours in the day. Unable to sleep or even rest from his daily training Ryunosuke felt that he had been a bit too harsh on his new friend over a slight misunderstanding. Unable to even sit and watch himself live his own life, Ryunosuke escaped to the club scene of Club Vertigo attempting to look for some level of Solace within himself. He sat before an empty city that could never really understand him, nor could he ever really accept it. All the while knowing that no matter what he did in this world attempting to use his powers for good or evil that in the end nothing would change and he would simply be known as the police officers son.

He would hang his head into his palms as he took a single seat on a random stone object that made its way into his area as he began to sit. With tears in his eyes he would attempt to think to himself as to how he managed to drag himself into such a world where he was powerless. He had been careful his entire life never to get devoured into such things. Yet now he knew for once in his life, he was powerless to do anything or help anyone do anything.

With tears in his eyes Ryunosuke turned to see two figures wearing black robes behind him. One the smaller figure from the previous encounter, and the other simply a lanky fellow who wore a mask that seemed like it was reserved for a Moa style figurine rather than a person. Each of them chuckled as they watched the wet eyed young man known simply as Ryunosuke stand and turn to them.

"Are you done crying about nothing or should we leave for the time being?" The smaller figure spoke with a sense of arrogance in his voice. "Better yet let's give him a reason to cry." Standing to his feet and running his hand to his side, Ryunosuke quickly rose his han above his head as if attempting to reach out for something before a brillant light began to devour him. All the while with tears in his eyes he spoke. "Let's get started already.."


	3. Chapter 3

No one dared ask what had happened to Ryunosuke the next morning. True, that everyone had heard rumors of the 'Titanic Trio' of Umikai high taking it upon themselves to have a wild and crazy night. The rumors got across to the teachers that Yo, Wata, and Ryunosuke happened to get wasted to the point that the newbie of their group was unable to attend to school for the next week. The only thing that added even more friction to the situation was that when the school's week stated back up was that Ryunosuke turned up with several scars and bandages atop his face.

Each of the students began to carry their own rumors of the situation. Varying from getting in a random bar fight, to something as wide ranged as Yoshuna getting drunk and Ryunosuke had to save him from numerous thugs. In truth, it wasn't anything so sharp and pain filled to the point that it would make those around him feel as though they had anything to worry about. Wata had already known of the answer before Yo began to even ask him upon meeting him at the school's entrance. Even to this moment, Ryunosuke began to chuckle to himself as he watched the two of them walk up to him.

Yoshuna began to feel a deepening and pain filled sorrow overcome his gut upon thinking that something that he had said to him saddening drove him to this state. "Ryunosuke?! What happened to you dude? I wanted to say that I was sorry man… I didn't expect you to beat yourself up over it… at least not literally anyways!" Yo's voice began to carry over the area all the while Wata continued to chuckle to himself upon noticing that Ryunosuke began to chuckle with him. It didn't take either of them long enough before they decided to simply inform Yo of the events as a whole.

"Don't worry about it Yo… Wata seemed to fill you in on everything so I guess for the time being we have no reason to continue carrying the crosses." Ryunosuke spoke as he bowed slightly before him as a sign of him respect and sorrow towards Yo. Wata continued to laugh as he broke up the conversation between the two of them with a slight cold stare aimed towards Ryunosuke all the while. "Mind telling me exactly what happened now?" Wata began to walk towards the school all the while looking back to signal for the two of them.

The school bell had rung for some time before Yo made his way into his homeroom class to notice that all eyes had managed to find themselves onto him. Even his teacher who entered the room some moments after him began to carry glances in his direction upon noticing that Wata and Yo both managed to glance at one another in succession. "Mind telling me exactly why everyone is staring at us?" Yo's voice carried out the side of his mouth aimed at Wata who took it upon himself to sit beside him. Something about the situation as a whole seemed to make him feel more or less like a celebrity rather than a new kid attempting to find some friends in the world.

"I think it either has something to do with the fact that you got drunk your first day of school and then got wasted at a club later that night." Wata wore a wide grin atop his face as he turned towards Yo. It didn't take long before Yoshuna began to calmly understand the situation as a whole. It didn't take long for him to understand that out of each and everything that had happened to him since he got there that perhaps this case of mistaken ideas is the only normal thing that had happened to him.

Ryunosuke began to laugh as he removed some of his bandages from atop his face all the while looking towards the black board before him. "It's no big deal honestly. Look at the bright side, at least one good thing managed to come out of our events last week…" Ryunosuke began to chuckle as Yo sat in his seat wearing a constant look of confusion and lost mindedness. It didn't take long before Rynosuke was pointing at the front seat in the classroom only to indicate that a cute black haired female with a purple stream inside her hair began to turn back from her seat away from Yo's current position.

"Isn't that the one girl who we helped? I think her name was… what was it…" Yo got lost in confusion for a moment as he began to finally speak her name aloud for everyone to hear. "Nitsumo Kinosui!" He spoke louder out of happiness for finally being able to remember her name. Only to notice that it seemed as though Yoshuna was calling her name.

"Can you please keep your girlfriend's name out of this classroom?" Wata began to turn his face away from the classroom as he began to chuckle upon confusing everyone in the class and causing Kinosui to strongly blush. "Excuse me… as a representative of the Junior Class of Umikai High School. I will have to have you refrain from having your feelings for your lover known to the entire class Mr. Akiraka." Ryunosuke began to chuckle aloud after he gave his announcement aimed at Yo as a joke only to see that both Kinosui and Yo were both beat red and unable to speak.

The teacher began to carry herself into the room tapping a ruler atop the desk as though to get everyone's attention for the time being. "That's enough Mr. Tatuyami… it's good to see that you and your friends decided to show up and help out with our class actually learning today." She spoke out as the classroom finally began to quiet down and take their time to listen to her current lesson.

The bell for the day had rung and began to ring out as Ryunosuke, Wata, and Yo each found themselves atop the school's roof. All three of them began to chuckle as they watched the people beneath them move about the area attempting to leave. "So… are you guys ready to listen to the events that took place yesterday? I didn't want to be the one in charge of being a total downer unless you guys were ready to listen." Ryunosuke's comedic tone for the day began to die off as he attempted to keep with a lively aura for the day. Wata nodded towards Ryunosuke, as did Yo before he began to speak.

"Yesterday while you guys were out there having the time of your lives, or whatever else you guys were doing. I was getting beat up by the deep throat double trio." Ryunosuke began to speak as though attempting to break the ice of the area for the time being. It was obvious that he was attempting to lighten the mood as best he could, however it wasn't helping anyone at the moment.

"I take it our friends in the black cloaks took it upon themselves to pay you a visit?" Wata began to speak in a much more serious tone attempting to draw out as much information on the situation that he could at the moment. Yo felt as though he wasn't as intelligent as Wata to ask the right questions, nor was he there to account for Ryunosuke's overall seeing. He simply felt as though he had stepped foot into a world that wasn't his own. Now he waited for Ryunosuke to give him a moment to organize his thoughts and continue speaking to him.

"Truth be told, they introduced themselves and they told me more about themselves…" Ryunosuke's voice fell into a deepening darkness before he managed to finish what he had been saying for the time being. "They're called Deep-Six. They're primary objective is to try to go out of their way to obtain the power of persona and use it for whatever it is that they intend to do with… it." Ryunosuke continued to speak as though lost in thought for a moment only to be slapped back into reality by Wata's voice.

"How about next time we avoid beating up the people who we're attempting to draw information from?" Wata began to speak with a heavy chuckle before hearing Ryunosuke speak up cutting through the darkness of the area. "They weren't playing for keeps this time, but it was obvious that they intended get something from me." Ryunosuke's voice began to echo throughout the area as Yo finally spoke out for a moment as though attempting to understand everything.

"So.. they're persona users too then?" Yo's voice attempted to grab a hold of the information that continued to dance about the air around him. "Yes, they're seasoned to the point that they're capable of manifesting their persona at a speed roughly half of my own." Ryunosuke's voice began to speak as though he was serious all the while leaving Yo's mind to carry on through this entire scenario.

"_So… wait a moment.. HALF this guy's time is roughly considered 'above average' when it comes to summoning his persona. What the hell do they call it when it comes to someone on their level? I thought these were just a bunch of random wanna be heroes who have hearts of gold. And it turns out these guys are some of the most bad ass guy's I've ever seen a day in my life! I mean dear god, how is it that he was capable of fighting off two of those guys and only having a simple scratch or two on his face." _

Yo's thoughts finally came to a close as he stood to his feet and began to stretch slightly before noticing that something about the situation seemed to be off. True that school had been let out for some, but something seemed to be lingering in the area for some time that it made him feel slightly off. He turned to Ryunosuke and Wata as though about to speak only to notice that both of them were standing looking in the same general direction that he was in. "We know your there… just show yourself." Ryunosuke's deep voice carried through the air causing a confused and slightly terrified Nitsumo Kinosui fell to the ground square on her face upon falling on the door leading to the roof.

Ryunosuke and Wata began to chuckle to themselves as they noticed that the threat they had sensed was nothing more than a schoolgirl with a silly crush running around looking for someone. "Oh man Ryu… it looks like we stepped in it this time." Wata began to speak as he made his way towards the door as though now ignoring the female before him. "Looks as though I can give you guys some privacy then right?" Ryunosuke began to speak as he made his way past Kinosui whom had appeared to be unable to move through all the confusion. Nodding towards the fallen Kinosui Ryunosuke and Wata each avoided her as they made their way off the school roof.

"So…I'm sorry we haven't been properly introduced as of yet. I think your name is Nitsumo Kinosui correct?" Yo began to speak as he grabbed a hold of her arm and attempted to pick her up from the ground, only to have her jerk away as though afraid of him. "I-I-It's ok…" She curled up into a ball as though attempting to defend herself from something. Yo's mind began to run in the heat of the confusion to the point that he was completely unable to even help her up correctly.

"_SHIT! I think she remembers what happened that night! If that's the case she might just think I'm a random playboy who's here to try and get in her pants… Wait? Why do I even care what she thinks? This is my first time even talking to her? Why in the hell would anyone honestly even make assumptions like that after meeting someone one time? I mean it's not like she has some random attachment towards me… or maybe the attachment is so strong that she can't even afford to have me touching her."_ Yo's mind finally came back to reality as he reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand and lifted her up.

"So… I take it that you have a some questions you want answered about what has been going on between us?" Yo's voice broke off for a moment as he finally began to catch himself in thought and correct himself. "I mean this! The situation as a whole you know!" Yo's voice carried off for a moment attempting to change the subject from anything relating to Kinosui and his feelings towards her.

"I-I-Its ok.. Your Akiraka-kun.. correct?" She spoke as though attempting to keep one single thought on her mind when it came down to speaking to Yo. "It's ok; you can simply call me Yo. Everyone else seems to have no problem simply giving me a nickname after only knowing me for such a short time." Yo's thoughts began to travel as though talking to Wata or Ryunosuke for the time being. "I mean it's not like there's anything worth remembering about me, you know?" Yo began to speak only to hear the voice of Kinosui break through the thickening depths of the area.

"W-W-Well, you're pretty nice guy. I mean you're really calm, cool, collected, and warm…" Her voice began to carry itself off for a moment only to notice that she was still holding onto Yo's hand. She quickly jerked her burning red hand away from Yo and felt her face burn up with red hot passion. She was unable to speak clearly and now she was unable to even look at Yo without sniffling and losing her voice in the passing moments. "I-I-I didn't mean to try to pull anything on you by taking your hand without your permission!" She screamed before she bowed over and quickly attempted to make her escape from the area.

"_Something about her hand felt warm and calming… I honestly wish she didn't just run off like that. I think if I had gotten to know her then something about her could have really grown on me…"_ Yo's voice began to carry throughout the depths of his mind only to hear a sound escape his phone. It was a cryptic ringtone set aside for a caller by the name of "Social" only to see a message read across the screen.

"Thou Art I… and I art Thou…" The screen began to light up with a symbol of two figures holding hand. One a man, the other a woman, was standing before a tree with the title of "The Lovers" reading at the bottom. Something seemed to bother Yo as the message began to carry over the screen as though informing him. _"You have made a bond with that of the Lovers Social Link… It is your job to see to it that this Link grows and is nurtured to the point that it can develop into something much more… and in due time you may share in the power that it creates." _

The message ended on the screen before Yoshuna could even ask himself what the hell was going on. For some reason, a deep and complex feeling began to grow from within Yo's body as though attempting to ask him to reach out and follow her for some reason. Yoshuna began to make his way towards the stairway only to notice that Ryunosuke and Wata were now sitting before it with grins atop their faces.

"It looked like Miss Kinosui was about to pass out when she got from up here. Either you did something that made her want to get away, or you did something that made her want to be up here with you even though she knew it wasn't right." Ryunosuke was speaking as though trying to drag out Yo's hidden thoughts of Kinosui. "Or it could be a combined effort of both of the two… we're not here to judge you Yo-boy." Wata's voice continued to carry on after Ryunosuke's traveled off of his sentence.

"It's nothing like that you two. I mean sure she's kind of cute, I don't think there's anything going on with her. Not right now or in the near future guys." Yo's voice finally reached its end as he began to walk towards the doorway as though attempting to leave for the time being. Only to hear Ryunosuke's voice cut him off before he could open the doorway to the roof's exit. " We have work to do tonight Yo… you know only if you intend on joining us…" Ryunosuke placed his headphones over his head as soon as began to move towards the stairs. "Yeah, of course I'm going to head out with you guys… not like you're going to leave me behind this time." Yo began to speak as he placed his headphones over his ears.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I want to be a Hero! I'm going to save them all!" Ryunosuke continued to speak to out loud as though pretending to portrait a typical Anime tone. "4:32 pm, Silverman Walk Way, J.G." Ryunosuke finished his sentence for the time being before he hit the radio of his car as though showcasing that the time was being showcased as 4:11 pm. Meaning that they didn't have much time left before they had to be wherever it was that they needed to be.

"Where the hell is Silverman Walk Way? I mean it sounds pretty high and mighty if you ask me…" Yo began to speak only to hear Wata's voice respond to him attempting to inform him on the situation as a whole so that he didn't feel entirely left out. "Silverman Walk Way is a pretty infamous hang out around here. Most of the bad guys around here tend to hang out around there showcasing their 'talents'." Wata spoke as though he knew all too well exactly of what he spoke of. "It's simply a dirty underpass where dumb asses run around being bigger dumb asses." Ryunosuke cut into the conversation before taking a sharp turn on the street before him.

Ryunosuke decided to bark roughly three blocks away from the area they had been told about before Ryunosuke moved out of the driver's seat. Placing his hands into two black leathered gloves and moving over towards the streets as though attempting to ignore the part of the city he was in. Wata began to chuckle to himself as he looked over to Ryunosuke as though slightly confused about the situation. "Wait… so what's Yo-Boy gonna use?" Wata spoke to Ryunosuke as though concerned of Yo's overall health should he be caught up in such a situation as before.

Ryunosuke reached into his back pocket and threw a hunting styled knife towards Yoshuna with a heavy chuckle. "Avoid getting yourself cut up while using it ok?" Ryunosuke chuckled to himself before making his way across the street moving towards his current objective. Wata quickly falling behind him as he wore a single grin atop his face, while Yo attempted to balance the heavy black metal knife in his hands wondering to himself _"What the hell am I going to do with this?!"_

The area beneath the bridge seemed to be dark and damp to the point that there was nothing around the area that needed explaining. On the walls sat numerous graffiti tagging over the area, on the roof sat numerous turtles that had an odd style of art combined to them. Each of the turtles wearing a different shade from one another as though trying to blend in with each and every rainbow pattern that stood before him. Their eyes empty of any feeling or expression, yet for some reason they seemed to reflect so much more as Yo began to spin around the taking in the entire world around him.

The sides of the wall wore patterns and brandings ranging from numerous titles and altered artworks, to random pictures of beast and demons that simply sat there glaring at you carrying an odd style to their face. "Wrong Way…" sat to Yo's left colored in a deepening and dark crimson shade only to blend into an arrow pointing towards the left acting as an exit of the area. At its end sat a single golden shaded skull. There seemed to be nothing else that would run past the skull, perhaps a symbol that beyond that point there is no exit.

The people who sat beneath the bridge seemed to wear odd looks on their faces, several guys sat there as though attempting to ignore the group's existence as a whole. While a hand full of guys before them made their ways towards Ryunosuke, Yo, and Wata as though attempting to block their walk way through the area. The one that stood out the most was perhaps was one of them wearing a long black leather jacket. His eyes layered with some kind of eye liner while his hair seemed to glow a crimson red shade blending in with the black within his head. His skin was pale and seemed to grow paler and paler as he moved closer and closer towards their group.

"Well, well, well Mr. Tatuyami and former brother Wata. It has been a long time since we last saw each other hasn't it? What are you here for this time? To take another one of our children into your clutches and make them your own?" He spoke as his red and black eyes looked up towards Yo as though slightly confused. "Who is this? I wonder if he seems to fall into the false world that you paint for those around themselves." He spoke as though slightly confused.

"Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Naisuke Einiwa! However, you may call me brother Nine… everyone else around here seems to think that it's worthwhile to call me by my given name." Nine began to chuckle to himself as he moved towards Ryunosuke and glanced into his eyes as though trying to pin him down and drag him into some dark dimension that only seemed to exist within his eyes. However, something in Ryunosuke's eyes seemed to be so cold and powerful that it was impossible for anything to cut through it. Even Nine himself felt the need to back down as he turned back around without even bothering to look Wata in the eyes.

"_Wait a moment… its 4:30 and I'm pretty sure he just said that he ain't the person that we're here to try to save. So who the hell are we here to try to stop then if not this local nutcase? I mean hell I'm surprised that these two are even known around here, let alone that someone seems to know them well enough to want to avoid them. But, that's beside the point here… I just want to know if not this guy then who are we here to try to save?"_ Yo's thoughts were cut off upon seeing a figure at the end of the tunnel.

Standing at the tunnel's end wearing army fatigue green jeans with a pair of thick black boots on his feet, stood a giant of a man. His eyes deep and dark as his braided hair lay to his side as though attempting to keep itself hidden beneath his thick wool cap like object that remained over his head. His chest covered in what appeared to be a net like shirt that was only protected by a thick army style green vest. "My name is Jirako Ginza! And I am here to show those of you who sit in these depts. The error of your ways and the path of light!" The dark skinned young man spoke with a grin before Yoshuna felt his own hand run down his face out of embarrassment for the man before him.


End file.
